gingerly to my temple, then pull them away to inspect the evidence; blood coats my hand in thick rivers and the room begins to spin heavily around me. Carlos’s voice floats quietly as if he is speaking from somewhere far away “Morning sweetness”.
“Carlos” I breathe, as I succumb to darkness.
Chapter 6
Before I even open my eyes, panic hits me “Carlos!?” I shriek, my eyes flying open.
“I’m here, I’m here” he soothes, stroking my face.
“Oh Carlos” I cry, clinging to his hand. We are moving, but it takes me a while to click that I am on a stretcher headed for an ambulance out the front of the hotel. “You’ve got a bad gash to your head so you’re going to hospital to get it stitched up” Carlos explains.
“Are you coming with me?” the panic starts rising in my chest again.
“Yes I’ll be here every step of the way”
The hospital is small, but clean and well equipped and under Carlos’s instructions we are seen in next to no time. It transpires that I have a two inch cut across from the centre of my hairline diagonally towards my right temple; I only need five stitches, but they insist that I stay for at least an hour under observation, on account of me losing consciousness.
Once we are alone Carlos finally questions me, “So what happened, did you fall?”
I shake my head sullenly, causing shooting pains through my skull.
“No, it was Jake” his face drops at the mere mention of his name, but he waits silently for me to embellish, “he came round this morning, we got into an argument, about you and I don’t know he just flipped, grabbed me and flung me into the wall and then left. I’ve never seen him like that.”
“I’ll kill him” he swears under his breath, his cheeks burning red, wringing his hands together in his lap, anger seeping from every pore in his body.
“Please Carlos, no” he looks up sharply at me, taken aback by my protest. “You should have seen him, I really believe he’s lost his mind. And besides I’ve had enough violence for one day, can we just leave it. I just want to forget about it.” On any other day I would put my money on Carlos no questions, but right now,I just couldn’t bare him being hurt at all, even if Jake still came off worse.
“Well I’m getting him banned from the resort as soon as we get back, I’m not having that maniac any where near you. In fact, I’m going to call the police and have him removed right now!” he stands and starts patting his pockets looking for his phone. I put my arm up to stop him, “Just call the hotel and get security to deal with it” I command.
“Kate…” he starts to argue.
“Carlos, if we call the police I’ll just have to go down there and give statements and I’d be obliged to contact his parents and let them know what’s going on, it’s just prolonging the agony. Please, I just want this over with now” I’m so tired of explaining myself, I wish for once people would just do what I say, no questions asked.
“OK, then that’s what I’ll do” he accepts, planting a gentle kiss on my nose, “but I’m doing it for you, not him” he re-iterates.
“I know, thank you” I say pulling him down to sit on the edge of my bed and snuggling into his chest.
It takes him two minutes on the phone to have it organised, he leaves the room, but I can see him through the window into the hall, his faced screwed up as he rushes through the instructions with the security team.
Walking back into the room, he slips his phone back into his top pocket, “they will call me when it’s done” he states flatly, “we may as well wait here until they do” he says, sitting back down on the bed and taking my hand in his.
It’s a full nerve wracking two hours before they call again. We make small talk, the occasional unfunny joke to lighten the mood, but we are both stressed to the max. If he’s made a run for it already, there is no guarantee that he won’t be able to get back in at a later date. The gate is heavily guarded but all they will have to work on is a description from me, and if he keeps his issued wrist strap they will let him in pretty much